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[sensive]

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@BOB

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[molloys]

huh.
much worse there or what

[lowercase, limited punctuation, not corry’s usual m.o., but.]

in the house where people just fucking up and vanish forever?
yeah, bob.
showing up and finding people cleaning out your room is gonna freak me out a little.

[sensive]

right
no yeah
sorry i just
i’m not used to people paying attention or uh giving a shit
i guess

[ even after adrian’s panic in december. that’s just — adrian, y’know? ]

it’s not bad
jobs are more my wheelhouse down here
aka jobs i have had and been fired from before instead of jobs more for people who do the firing y’know

[molloys]

[the pause is longer this time, someone's either practicing deep breaths or pacing out the adrenaline.]

You don't owe me anything.
Just like knowing where people [you] are at.

Guess that tracks, yeah. You'd thrive in middle management.
Good to know.

[sensive]

[ he drafts several messages while waiting for an answer. all variants on further apologies.

ultimately deleted in favour of something a touch more balanced. ]

i guess i don’t owe you but
i’m sorry i didn’t tell you first anyway
think you’re the only reason i stayed gold as long as i did
thanks for trying to help me

[molloys]

Not really something to be thankful for, if you ask me.
Everywhere's shitty.
It's just a matter of how much physical labor's involved in the shittiness.

[a pause.]

Wish I coulda done more.

[sensive]

it’s not your fault
my powers go kind of haywire when i’m stressed or uh emotional so i screwed up every time i even tried to do stuff for other people

[ 😔 ]

if you want to
you can
you could request me so other people don’t on the off hours
i want you to request me, i mean

[molloys]

Yeah?
They still doing that now?

[oh. 🥺]

I could do that, yeah.
Crash the whole damn app.
Hundred thousand requests.
Surprise, me again.

[sensive]

not exactly
mostly cause they’re um
cut off, as punishment

[ bad doggy ]

way better than the old u up text followed by question mark text
keep em coming

[molloys]

[kill bill sirens]

Hm.
Who're you rooming with, again?

What about "wyd"?
Is that still casual sexy charming or do I deserve federal prison for that?

How bout me complaining about bad dreams? Sentient teddy bear duties?

[sensive]

so far i’ve only seen josias
which has to be on purpose cause he pisses me off

[ and that’s beautiful 💖 ]

maybe community service
come on you don’t need an excuse to get me over
i mean you technically do for the request to go through
but i just like being around you

[molloys]

Oh, yeah, him.
Guy didn't know what sounding was.

[smh this generation.]

You're being cute, which is making me less irritated, which if that's your cunning plan, it worked.
I'll make up mundane things.
I wanna marathon Jersey Shore and nobody agreed to watch it with me.
I got sciatica and need to be fussed over.
Got a hangnail. Something. No powers necessary.

You good about that? Them being gone?

[sensive]

pretty sure he’s old timey
and you don’t get into sounding every day, even here

[ signed, guy who is now thinking about sounding 😵‍💫 ]

my plan was mostly to get you to invite me over 😌

[ … ]

i don’t know
half of what i can do sucks, right
which is also why i didn’t really wanna touch strangers and make them remember every awful thing that’s ever happened to them on tv

but it feels like somebody changed me without asking all over again

[molloys]

Speak for yourself, sweetheart.
Call me surround sound the way I get into it.

[somewhere, a chuckle.] Coulda just sent ME the u up question mark text.



The fact that you're thinking about that first says something, y'know.
The comfort of people taking advantage of you.

But yeah.
Sounds like a shit deal.
One more way your body ain't yours, huh?

[sensive]

duuuude

[ very stupid very horny ]

we’re all being taken advantage of
but yeah
yeah

[molloys]

You laughed and it was funny, don't deny it.
You ever try that? Sounding?

Not talking to everyone, am I.
Talking to you, so what I care about's you.
And I'm sorry, Bob. Shouldn't happen this way.

[sensive]

[ beaming an eyeroll through the floor, ]

i haven’t but um
i would

[ whew. ]

well thanks for caring
that helps

[molloys]

Oh? Good to know.
Important to have a sexy bucket list, I feel.

[bemused:]

I start by chewing you out and now you're thanking me for being caring.
Enough to make a guy feel invincible, y'know.

[sensive]

you are not even close to winning “maddest at me for dropping” man
bucky’s gonna death stare right into my soul when he finds out

[ 😮‍💨 ]

can you keep the powers part a secret? it was kind of a big deal, back in october, and i don’t want anybody with something to prove thinking now’s the time to do it

[molloys]

That's boyfriend responsibilities, from what I hear.
Godspeed, babe.

I'll be the soul of discretion and if anyone fucks with you I'll put them through the wall. 🙂

[sensive]

”from what you hear”
this a i’m too old for boyfriends or too cool and casual situation?
bucky says he’s too old but he’s going on a hundred

[ you guys r soooooo funny about this. ]

very subtle
appreciate it ☺️

[molloys]

It's an "I've never been one" situation. Completely outside my scope.
He's not a wizard, right? No shame if he is, I'm not magicshaming, just. One thing at a time.

[is he a vampire. a mummy?? are there sexy mummies now??]

I mean it, though.
I ain't telling nobody, but if shit goes sideways
You know where I am.

[sensive]

huh
kinda thought i was the only one here who didn’t know what i was doing

[ teasing, just a little. ]

he’s the older model of what i am
no scary experimental stuff, classic formula

[ all the good hero crap. ]

thanks corry
that means a lot to me
i’m with you too, for the record, whether or not shit goes sideways

[molloys]

I can be inept in ways you've never even thought of, baby.
At least the stuff I CAN do, I can do well.

[right 👀👀👀 tell him he's good 👀👀👀]

Jesus, it's that common?
Still human experimentation, isn't it? Don't think you can call that not scary in any contexts, Bobby.

[a beat, thumbing over i'm with you like pressing at a new bruise.]

Sideways seems to be the main direction shit goes. Especially around here.
Won't blame you if something comes out and you gotta bail, hear me?

[sensive]

[ it’s another piece of corry to inspect, jagged glass held up to the light. both surprising and not that someone so confident could be inexperienced in other forms of intimacy. bob recalls that soft surprise, tucked in the contours of his face, when he’d tried to comfort corry in his suite. ]

uh huh
really really well

[ he lets the talk of bucky and their shared, tortured lot slip away. corry’s tended him enough already. ]

no way
we’re past the bailing threshold
you’re [ another undefinable relationship. not just some guy he’s fucking, when that guy would have bolted after the void unspooled his worst memories. ]
i’m not going anywhere
i’ve already conned you into having me over tonight

[ ‘cause he’s not leaving, once he’s there. ]

[molloys]

Two really's, wow.
I may develop an ego problem, if you aren't careful.

[deflection, because of course -- corry knows he's objectively good in bed, that he fulfills and satisfies and soothes things not everyone can. it's this flip side, softer and careful, like there's anything left worth protecting or thinking about inside him -- that's what disarms every time.

like now. we're past the bailing threshold, when bob knows the root, but not all the ugly ways it grew and festered and twined thorny and choking through the next twenty years. there's so much he doesn't know.

still. i'm what on the tip of his tongue.]

Ain't no con when I was thinking about it anyway.
It's why I went to your suite.
Ex-suite.
Thought it was my turn to give an out.
Even cleaned up, threw out all the bottles.